The present invention relates to mobile IP networks, and more particularly to consistent QoS management between UMTS QoS and IP QoS across mobile IP networks.
The development of mobile communication devices and mobile networks has advanced at a rapid rate. At first, analog mobile networks enabled voice communication and simple paging features. Later, digital mobile networks provided more advanced features for voice and data communication, such as encryption, caller identification and short message service (SMS) text messages. More recently, third generation (3G) mobile IP network technology is being developed to enable users to easily access content rich media, information and entertainment with mobile devices.
As mobile devices and mobile networks have advanced, and more data has become available to the users, service providers have started offering different levels of service to their users based on need. For example, a business may need a higher level of service for a financial transaction than an individual subscriber may need to play a game. The different service classes can also help service providers utilize the available bandwidth on the network most efficiently. Additionally, service classes enable a service provider to set a minimum level of quality-of-service (QoS) for their users.
In 3G mobile networks, at least two different layers of QoS may need to be managed in an IP based core network. These two layers include a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) layer QoS and an IP layer Diffserv QoS. UMTS layer QoS will use the service provided by the IP layer Diffserv QoS. A consistent mapping between these two QoS layers is critical for achieving end-to-end QoS. In the past, methods for mapping between these two QoS layers have been limited and difficult to implement.
Some networking products have hard-coded mapping rules between the UMTS QoS layer and the IP QoS layer in a Serving General Packet Radio Service Support Node (SGSN) and a Gateway General Packet Radio Service Support Node (GGSN) disposed within a mobile network. However, this approach limits the mapping to a predefined set of rules.
What is needed is a way to easily provide end-to-end QoS consistently across the UMTS layer and the IP layer on a mobile network. It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.
The present invention is directed at addressing the above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems, and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.
According to one aspect of the invention, mapping mechanisms for the UMTS layer QoS to the IP layer QoS for a mobile network are provided. A policy server maintains the mapping mechanism and is coupled to the support nodes on the mobile network. The policy server is responsible for distributing the mapping rules to the support nodes across the mobile network.
According to another aspect of the invention, three mapping mechanisms are used by the policy server and support nodes, including an out-sourcing mechanism, a provisioning mechanism, and a hybrid mechanism. The out-sourcing mechanism uses the policy server to handle all Packet Data Protocol (PDP) context events-and supplies the appropriate rules to the appropriate support node. Under the provisioning mechanism, the policy server pushes down the corresponding mapping rules to each support node across the mobile network in advance of any PDP context event. The hybrid mechanism utilizes a combination of the out-sourcing mechanism and the provisioning mechanism. The mechanisms ensure consistent UMTS to IP QoS mapping across networks and provide many advantages.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the out-sourcing mechanism is directed at providing many advantages. For example, the policy server can host more complicated mapping rules, as compared to the support nodes, since the policy server makes the decisions relating to the PDP context event. Therefore, the support nodes on the mobile network do not store or execute complex logic. Additionally, since the SGSNs and GGSNs obtain their mapping rules from a policy server, the QoS may be consistent for the user.
According to still yet another aspect of the invention, the provisioning mechanism is directed at providing many advantages. The policy server is not involved in making call-by-call decisions once the mapping rules are pushed to the support node thereby saving policy server resources. Additionally, the mapping rules do not need to be pushed down in real time thereby saving processing power, bandwidth, and reliability demands relating to the policy server.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the hybrid mechanism is directed at providing many advantages. The hybrid mechanism maintains a balance between scalability and simplicity. In the case of a roaming user, the user specific mapping rules may be pushed down to the user"" primary SGSN and GGSN as default rules. When the user roams and other SGSNs and GGSNs are used to handle the traffic, these support nodes may query the policy server to download the relevant mapping rules for the user. Additionally, complicated rules may be maintained by the policy server, thereby freeing some resources for the support nodes.
According to another aspect of the invention, the mapping rules may be generated using attributes in the QoS profile and the Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Network (MSISDN) number that are carried in a PDP context. The relevant QoS profile attributes may include, among others, traffic class, maximum bit rate, guaranteed bit rate, transfer delay, traffic handling priority, and allocation/retention priority.